


Falling Stars

by untouchableface



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6065608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untouchableface/pseuds/untouchableface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Up and coming actress Aino Minako's love life is nobody's business but her own, despite what the tabloids say. But even she didn't plan on falling for her mysterious, moody makeup artist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Reinako Week on Tumblr - Day 1 - AU.

Aino Minako stifled a yawn as she settled into the makeup chair. As far as she was concerned, 5 am call times were a special form of torture. If anything, any work that fell between the hours of 12 am and 12 pm should be outlawed, but she didn't make the rules; film sets usually started early and ran late, and that's just how it was.

Minako was just glad that she had finally landed a recurring role on her favourite J-Drama series, even if the boost in publicity couldn't have come at a worse time. The week before, she and her then-boyfriend had gotten into a fight outside of one of the most trendy nightclubs in Roppongi, and the paparazzi were having a field day with the breakup. It had almost cost her the new role, and she had gotten a very angry phone call from her manager the next morning, followed by an explosion on her social media accounts that was only starting to subside. Closing her eyes, Minako groaned at the memory. At least her number one fan, Tsukino Usagi, had led a fanclub rally event to show support for the starlet, which was probably the only thing that had saved her role on the show.

"I'm going to need you to open your eyes." Minako jumped visibly at the strange voice. Complying with the request, she found a serious-faced woman with long dark hair standing in front of her.

"Hi..." Minako replied cautiously. While crews on film sets sometimes changed without notice, she had developed a nice rapport with the English makeup artist that had been working with her over the past week. "Is Steffi-chan not in today?"

"No. She wrapped at 3 am this morning." The raven-haired woman sighed impatiently.

Despite the disappointment and her tiredness, Minako's professionalism won out. "I'm sure it will be a pleasure to work with you. Aino Minako." With her best camera-ready smile, Minako extended her hand.

"Hino Rei." The new makeup artist did not return Minako's carefully-practiced warmth, nor did she say anything further before turning from the brief handshake towards her various colour palettes.

Before she could control it, Minako's defensive side kicked in. "Look, I don't need any more judgment because of those stupid tabloids, ok?"

Rei stiffened for a moment, her hand shaking as she set a bottle of concealer back down. Without turning to face Minako, she muttered "I'm just here to do my job."

Minako sized up the other woman. Egos that outweighed talent were sadly too common in the film and television world. She made a mental note to check the call sheets later to see if this Rei was only on for one day of shooting or if she would have to deal with her for the rest of filming. Things ran a lot more smoothly when everyone got along on set, and it seemed like the obviously cranky and judgmental Rei had missed the memo on that one. Minako was sure that Rei wouldn't purposely mess up the makeup she was supposed to do, but pissing off anyone on crew that was at all responsible for how an actor looks is never a good idea.  "Alright," Minako agreed tentatively. It was too early to argue anyway, and her manager had warned her more than once about keeping her temper in check. "Let's get me all cancered up then."

If she had not been so trained in studying human behaviour, Minako would have missed the way Rei flinched. Okay, so talking with this makeup artist was totally out, then. Rei was probably too busy being too professional to say aloud all the judgmental statements that she was thinking, or so Minako thought. As Rei began the work of making Minako look deathly sick, Minako's thoughts turned toward her scenes later that morning. The writers had outdone themselves: Minako's character Asuka was dying (oh, the angst!) and her dying wish was to watch the sun rise one last time. Of course, the handsome doctor who had been treating her takes her to the hospital rooftop where of course the seeds of tragic romance bloom, and then - just in time - they get an organ donation and the transplant that saves Asuka's life. If she was really lucky and the fans loved her, Minako could even become a co-star for the next season.

As Minako unconsciously smiled to herself, Rei subtly studied her features. It wasn't often that Rei found herself intimidated by the stars she worked with, but there was something achingly familiar about the blonde starlet. She wasn't sure what tabloid nonsense Minako had been going on about, but the day's subject matter coupled with it being her first day working on set made Rei deeply uncomfortable, a fact that she was certainly not ready to share with anyone else.

As Rei finished applying the makeup, Minako's focus returned to the present moment, all the earlier stress forgotten thanks to her pleasant daydreams about winning a best actress award for the show. "Wow," she giggled, staring at herself in the mirror, "I look _awful_." Grabbing her phone from the dressing table, Minako snapped a few photos before Rei could move out of frame. "What's your handle? I'll tag you."

"I, uh, don't do social media."

"Wow, really? " Minako was more than a little shocked. "Not even for your makeup work?"

"No." Rei was ashamed that hadn't thought of it. The idea of posting her private life online just didn't appeal to her, and so when she graduated from makeup school, she hadn't done more than build a simple website to advertise her services.

"Well, gimme your mobile number. I'll text these to you." At Minako's insistence, Rei found herself reciting her number. The photos arrived a few moments later, and had captured Rei staring awkwardly at Minako. Rei cringed, her nose scrunching up in disgust.

"We can do another one," Minako offered, seeing Rei's reaction to the photos. "Good thing I didn't post any yet." Minako switched the camera on her phone so it was in selfie mode, instead of photographing the whole makeup station via the mirror. "Lean in beside me." Rei complied, and after a couple of photos with the two girls awkwardly apart, Minako slung an arm around Rei's shoulder, evoking duckface as she pressed her cheek into Rei's.

"This one's good," Minako proclaimed proudly, sending the photo to Rei before posting it with a few choice hashtags. Likes and comments from fans started coming in almost immediately. If there was one thing Minako loved about acting, it was the way she could escape her own life and transform into so many different people. Having complex makeup made that transformation even more fun. "Oooh, I've got just enough time to swing by craft services for breakfast before Toshi-kun and I need to start rehearsing." Bouncing out of the makeup chair, Minako did her best to ignore the butterflies that had suddenly overtaken her. Of course she was just excited to see her handsome co-star; the butterflies would certainly not have anything to do with the very warm cheek that had been pressed into hers moments ago.

"See you on set," Rei said softly, watching Minako speed away.

 


End file.
